Sir Alex Ferguson launched another thinly-veiled attack on the England camp last night after he confirmed Paul Scholes will require a hernia operation.

Sir Alex Ferguson launched another thinly-veiled attack on the England camp last night after he confirmed Paul Scholes will require a hernia operation.

After his match-winning display at Newcastle last weekend, Scholes was restricted to a substitute's role in the scrappy win over basement dwellers Wolves.

The midfielder eventually made his arrival midway through the second half as Ferguson's side attempted to close out their third successive win.

However, while pleased to see his side maintain their 100pc record, Ferguson revealed Scholes must go under the surgeon's knife to solve a problem which worsened during his time with England for last week's friendly win over Croatia.

"Paul has been carrying a hernia problem for quite a bit," revealed the United boss.

"We told the England people about it but when he came back he was in a real state. It is really painful and at the moment it is not possible for him to play two games in a week.

"He will need an operation at some point but we will have to pick our moment."

The smart money would be on that moment coming during an international break, one of which follows Sunday's trip to Southampton, as Ferguson attempts to solve a series of injury problems.

Ferguson admitted he had made too many changes, and was thankful for John O'Shea's first senior goal which eventually gave the home side victory.

The result was tough luck on Wolves, for whom Henri Camara wasted a series of glorious chances either side of the interval. "Ferguson thought he could take liberties with his team and it nearly came unstuck," blasted former United midfielder Paul Ince, who was outstanding in his midfield holding role.

"The longer the game went on, the more we fancied our chances."

While Wolves remain anchored to the foot of the table, the only team in the Premiership still without a point, at least their performance restored some badly-needed confidence.

And, for manager Dave Jones, it was a perfect answer to critics such as Rodney Marsh and Charlie Nicholas who have condemned the Black Country outfit as nothing more than relegation fodder.

"It's not the Press, it's the ex-players," he moaned. "They seem to know an awful lot from sitting on the other side of the fence given they are only doing the jobs they are because they couldn't do the one I am in."